Rory threw his arms around her neck, Arthur’s jacket still clutched in one hand. “He’s anasshole,” he said as he hugged her, throat so tight he could barely talk. “He’s anassholewho saved us instead of himself and when I get him back, I’m going to kill him.”
She let out a choked sound, half sob, half laugh, and hugged back. “I’ll help you.”
His eyes were hot in the frigid night as he squeezed them shut. “Thanks for saving my life again.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
They held on for a long moment. Then the air beside them shimmered and Zhang appeared. “I lost the car.” His jaw was clenched. “Too fast, too erratic—I think they were trying to shake any tails, mundane or magic. I couldn’t keep up.”
“It’s all right.” Jade pulled back from Rory, wiping roughly at her eyes. “You heard her say Ellis, we would never have known without you. Do you think you were seen?”
Zhang shook his head. “There was a lead planter just outside the garage. I kept my projection behind it.”
Rory clenched his fists, balling up the edges of Arthur’s jacket. “But why take Ace? He’s not magic.”
“There are plenty of mundane reasons to kidnap a congressman’s son.” Jade frowned. “But I don’t think extortion is Gwen’s style.”
“What about murder?” Zhang said. “Mansfield’s body is on the library floor. Someone slit his throat.”
Rory shuddered.
“We can find Ace,” said Zhang. “Our contacts and friends can watch the trains, the ships, the roads.”
Jade nodded. “He’s not going to go without a fight.”
Rory let them talk. He closed his eyes and pulled Arthur’s jacket closer, breathing in his cologne. “He’s still in the city.”
“What did you say?”
Rory opened his eyes at Jade’s words. He hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. “He’s still in the city,” he said again, more slowly.
Zhang and Jade exchanged a look. “And how do you know?” Jade said carefully.
Rory hesitated.
“Don’t overthink it,” said Zhang. “Let your magic answer.”
Rory clutched the jacket. “That day you helped me find Ace on the skyscraper, I knew Ace wasn’t at his pad. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. And I know they haven’t taken him far enough to have left the city yet.” He shook his head in frustration. “If I could feel where he was, I’d be running hard as I could to him. But I can’t tell, it’s too vague.”
“Yesterday,” said Jade. “You were on Central Park West. You should have been wanderingeast, into the park, toward the relic. But you had gonewest, into the street.”
“Toward Ace.” Rory sat up straight. “Where’s the other relic, the ring? Where does he keep it?”
Jade and Zhang exchanged another look. “In a wall safe in the study.” Jade’s eyes had lit with a spark of hope. “We’ve both refused to learn the combination, but that’s not exactly a problem for you.”
Rory’s mind was racing. “Ace told me he’s got a car.”
“A Cadillac V-63, in a garage near his building,” said Zhang. “But none of us drive.”
I’m coming for you, Ace. “I know someone who does.”
“Are you sure, dear?” Mrs. Brodigan stared at Arthur’s gleaming Cadillac, shiny red with spotless white wheels and a tan roof. She wrung her hands. “This is a terribly nice car and I’ve only had the two lessons.”
“Which is twice as many as any of us,” Jade said reassuringly as she climbed into the cushy back seat next to Rory. Zhang’s projection shimmered in the front seat.
“Come on, Mrs. B.!” Rory stuck his head out the window of the back seat. “They got Ace!”
Jade leaned forward, over the back of the front seat. “It’s really all right, Mrs. Brodigan. Ace would choose his life over his car.”
